So there you are: the whole family is up early and in their pj’s, sitting around the Christmas tree, opening gifts. And you start to sneeze.
It might not be that dramatic. It could be that you have been feeling a bit off since that lovely blue spruce made its home in your den. It might even be that you’ve had a slight runny nose – nothing serious – since you and your family put up the artificial tree.
If either of these scenarios sound familiar, you could be allergic to your tree. More accurately, you could be suffering with mold or dust allergies that have been stirred up by your tree.
If you have a lovely authentic tree, filling your home with the aromatic smells of the evergreen family, you could also have invited mold into your home. Real trees are often damp from their time outside in the rain, snow or cold. Then, you bring that lovely conifer into your nice warm home. As a result, any mold spores on the tree become active – and produce more mold spores. As those spores become airborne, you become miserable.
You might think you are completely safe with that picture-perfect artificial tree you bought a few years ago. You’d be wrong. Artificial trees spend months in storage. During those months, the scourge of house cleaning – common dust – will find its way into the box and between those artificial branches. As a result, when you get it out and set it up, you and your dust allergy can get a rude awakening.
If you have indoor allergies to dust and mold, your best bet is to give your artificial tree a good vacuum cleaning before you set it up – and preferably outside of the house. (Either your portable HEPA vacuum cleaner or a central vac system that has its primary motor housing outside will allow you – or a loved one – to give that tree a good cleaning.) If the tree has been stored in a damp location, it’s a good idea to leave it for a couple of days in the garage to dry out too, so that the vacuuming can capture any possible mold spores that might have taken up roost.
If you get a real tree, it can also be helpful to have it dry out a bit in the garage. Put it in water, as required – but let the body of the tree itself dry out a bit. However, with a real tree you have a bigger challenge, as you can’t completely remove any mold spores that it might harbor.
If all else fails, get some good antihistamine, and enjoy your seasonal festivities regardless!
Merry Christmas from Be Allergy Wise
